HotProfile™: Marianas Electronics

The staff is nice, most especially the young woman who is in the front, but I turned in my macbook for some repairs to the hard drive and it came back with – I found out too late- a busted DVD/CD drive. I never had problems with it so didn’t think to check it when I got it back. When I finally did I found out there was a problem, called Marianas, but I was out of luck because whatever warranty was on it for the services they rendered just ran out… 🙁

Well some may have had an easier time with Marianas Electronics. We’re here to say otherwise. One oversight on the part of Marianas Electronics, tethered by a stubborn attitude, a propensity to come up smelling like the proverbial rose, a blatant attempt to minimize liabilities and an avoidance of owning up to their mistakes, is enough to damage any reputation Marianas Electronics may have built up over the years. Precisely the point that in this day of computers and the net, you may own your store and manage your employees, you may choose who you are nice to and who you treat badly but you don’t own the word of mouth that will get around should you decide to stumble around the planet in obtuse asininity.

Before you think about bringing your expensive laptop or related equipment to Marianas Electronics for repair, you may want to:

1) Take photos of your equipment before you hand over your computer to them and leave their premises to prove that any damage done was done after Marianas Electronics got their hands on it.

2) Get the person who receives your laptop, to perform an ocular inspection with you present to insure that Marianas Electronics does not later claim that they cannot prove (read: you cannot prove) that the scratches were there “before” or “after” they got done handling your expensive computer, leaving you victimized and frustrated as to the wanton negligence, lack of attention to detail, or proper professional care that your computer was not given while under Marianas Electronics’ care which left their hands in worse shape than you brought it.

3) If you sign a receipt or a claim tag, make a note on the tag that the laptop is clean, free from scratches and list any other items on the unit that could get damaged by mishandling while under the care of Marianas Electronics. Let the Marianas Electronics personnel see what you wrote and make sure it prints through the carbon so that it appears on their copy as well.

4) Bring an eye witness with you to Marianas Electronics to vouch for you in case of damage caused by Marianas Electronics personnel to your electronic equipment while said equipment is under their care at their place of business.

5) Report any negligence committed by Marianas Electronics to the Guam Better Business Bureau and if need be warn the community of your unfortunate experiences with Marianas Electronics through related forums.

To Marianas Electronics:

A company that represents a large corporation needs to adhere to certain professional standards. One is being accountable to the customer who has entrusted his property to your Authorized Apple Service center. Another being common sense that if your technicians are sloppy and careless with your customer’s property that you, as a business owner, should have a sense of responsibility to that customer, since you did not care to qualify the quality of your service center’s work, skills and above all ethics, while rudely leaving the issue as “his word against yours.” Know what you are doing so the customer will have no reason to make a legitimate complaint. And if there is a legitimate complaint, be men about it and not slither into the nearest crack in the wall.

If your service technician apologized to the customer for the damage noticed, the first time the customer brought it to his attention after your technician pulled the customer’s laptop out of your shop’s holding area, this then proves your company’s negligence for said damages to said laptop so don’t asininely change your stance by then claiming to the customer, that you as service center owner cannot prove the damages were there before or after your service technicians received and operated on the customer’s property. The apology of your authorized employee and service technician, who for all intents and purposes represents Marianas Electronics and hence Apple Computer Inc., the first time the customer mentioned to said technician about the damages to his laptop is an outright admission by said technician that the damages were caused by your service center, and proof that you, through the technician are liable for the damage caused by your technician(s). And that you are also liable for your technician’s work. To go back on your technician’s first comment and statement, that being an apology to the customer for the damage the technician caused to the customer’s laptop while at your store’s service center, as represented by your technician, is an outright lie and a disservice to the customer and a bad reflection of your company’s ethics and attitudes toward the customer, Apple Computer Inc., whom you were authorized to represent and the community of Guam.

Plain and simple; your apology is your admission of fault.

In the interest of return business, it would behoove Marianas Electronics to consider a prolonged relationship with their customer. Making a faithful customer feel they have to mistrust your service, care of their electronic equipment will make the chances of that customer, his family and friends, returning to patronize your establishment again, nil.

Guam is a small island. Word gets around. And with the internet available with a click of Google, any bad experiences with Marianas Electronics is easily accessed, archived for future reference, and for all to see.